Liner type pool construction



Jan.- 7, 1969 M. M. SCHANKLER LINER TYPE POOL CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 5, 1966 f/ 5 #4 r 3 2 M United States Patent Claims This invention relates generally to pool constructions and specifically to an improvement in liner type swlmming pools.

At least two general types of pool constructions are widely used today. One type has relatively thick, solid walls as typified by the conventional indoor swlmmlng pool. The second type of pool includes a relatively thin liner member which, though impervious to water passage, does not have the strength and regidity of the sol1d wall swimming pool and consequently requires a supporting structure.

Liner type pools are generally of two types. A very popular type is the above ground pool which usually consists of a flexible sheet supported by a framework. A second type is the below ground pool which, though sol1d walled in the sense that a solid backing exists about the liner, is of a much less expensive construction than the conventional solid wall, indoor type pool. In a liner type ground pool a side wall, which may be formed from any suitable building material such as concrete blocks, is laid up and a bottom prepared. The bottom may be formed by a solid type building material, such as concrete blocks, but more often it is merely a layer of sand, preferably about three inches thick which has been smoothed as carefully as possible to prevent any lumps or irregularities in the S011 from projecting upward and causing a rough or bumpy bottom when the flexible liner is laid on it.

Although the liner ground pool has many advantages, such as economy and ease of installation it also hase several disadvantages.

Present flexible liner constructions permit shifting of the sand under the bottom liner due to the action of the swimmers. Thus dents or footprints which appear in the bottom surface of the pool produce rough looking and lumpy bottoms, and this occurs even when the bottom has been smoothly tamped and troweled under the liner. Furthermore the ground under the liner must be carefully sifted in order to eliminate any stones or other hard or sharp objects which might cut the liner.

Further, present liners allow imperfections in compacting and/ or troweling of the sand bottom liner to show through the liner under the pressure of the pool water. These imperfections or irregularities in the pool bottom are dirt catchers, and such bottoms are much more difficult to clean than smooth bottoms. Furthermore, underwater lighting which is normally a dramatic and pleasing pool feature only serves to emphasize the bottom irregularities.

In addition, existing liners frequently sag and stretch unevenly during installation, bunching up and wrinkling and thereby making filling a slow process. Much tugging on the liner is required in an effort to pull wrinkles out of the side walls as the water rises. Furthermore stretching in the wall sections of the liner makes it impossible to cut holes in a liner for lights, returns and skimmers until the pool is virtually full of water. Once the pool is full of water and the holes cut, emptying and refilling poses special problems of wrinkling, sagging and extra stresses on the liner around the openings.

And, finally, the above water areas of the liner type pool are particularly susceptible to damage by sharp toys or implements.

Accordingly, an important object of this invention is to provide a liner type swimming pool which cannot be Patented Jan. 7, 1969 dented on the bottom, thereby eliminating the unsightly and hard to clean bottom which is so characteristic of present liner type ground pools.

Another object is to provide a liner type ground pool which does not require careful sifting of the ground under the liner to eliminate stones or other sharp objects in the region beneath the bottom of the liner.

Another object is to provide a liner type ground pool in which the sagging unwrinkling, and stretching problems encountered in the filling of conventional liner type ground pools are eliminated.

Another object is to provide a liner type ground pool in which holes in the side walls for lights, returns, skimmers and other beautifying or operating equipment may be preformed, and the problems of wrinkling, sagging and excessive stresses in the areas of the openings are eliminated.

Yet another object is to provide a liner type ground pool in which the probability of damage to the liner in the above water areas by sharp toys or implements is drastically reduced.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following description of the invention.

The invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of an exemplary form of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation view taken substantially along the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a detail view to an enlarged scale through one type of wall construction employed in the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a detail view to an enlarged scale of an exemplary form of liner construction;

FIGURE 5 is a detail view of another form of wall construction employed in the invention; and

FIGURE 6 is a diagrammatic view of a further embodiment of the invention.

Like reference numerals will be used to refer to like parts throughout the following description of the figures. The improved liner type ground pool of this invention is indicated generally at 10 in FIGURES l and 2. The pool consists of a shallow section 11 and a deep or d1v1ng section 12 as is common in the art. Shallow section 11 is formed by a bottom portion 13 which may, if desired, be actually sloped toward the diving section, end wall 14 and the left end portions of side walls 15 and 16. The diving section consists of a central, bottom portion 18 and four downwardly sloping bottom sections 19, 20, 21 and 22. Each of the downwardly slopmg body sections is formed roughly in the shape of a truncated pyramid. The upper end of section 22 is connected by a flexible hinge 24 to bottom 13 of the shallow section. The upper edges of bottom sections 19, 20 and 21 are connected by similar flexible hinge means which will later be described in detail to the lower edges of side walls 16, 15 and end wall 25 respectively. Each of bottom sections 19-22 is hinge connected by any suitable means to the horizontal bottom section 18.

Bottom sections 1922 are connected to one another by flexible hinge means indicated at 27, 28, 29 and 30 and it is to these hinge means and the particular construction of the side and bottom walls with which this invention is particularly concerned.

An exemplary construction is illustrated in FIGURE 3. Ground level is indicated at 32 and undisturbed earth beneath the pool is indicated at 33. The pool consists essentially of flexible side Wall means, indicated generally at 34, and rigid bottom means, indicated generally at 35. The side Wall means 34 in this instance is illustrated as a single sheet of flexible water impervious material such as polyvinyl chloride, commonly referred to as vinyl.

Although polyvinyl chloride is a preferred material any material which has good resistance to water chemicals and ultraviolet light may be utilized such as polyethylene, polypropylene and polyvinyl fluoride, which is of a Teflon type plastic sold under the trade name Tedlar by the Du Pont Company. All of the above named materials have good resistance to water chemicals such as chloride and algaecides, acids and soda ash alkalies. Other sources of supply at the present time are the B. F. Goodrich Company, The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and The Union Carbide Corporation. The thickness of the sheet may vary within wide limits. Twenty gauge vinyl material has been successfully employed although material anywhere from two to thirty gauge can be employed with only minor modifications or adaptations.

A concrete block wall is indicated generally at 36, the wall in this instance consisting of five courses of 8 inch concrete blocks laid up with suitable mortar joints in a manner well known in the building trade. The concrete block wall rests upon footing 37 and suitable reinforcing rods are embedded in and carried by the concrete block wall and footing.

A concrete cap is indicated at 39 and a coping at 40. It will be noted that in this instance the upper edge of the flexible side wall 34 has been brought back as at 42 and embedded in the concrete cap. In this instance a layer of building paper 43 has been interposed between the flexible side wall liner 34 and concrete block wall 36. The building paper 43 decreases the transmittal of irregularities in the concrete blocks to the liner 34 and acts as a buffer between the blocks and the liner, thereby reducing the danger of cuts and abrasion to the liner. The additional smoothness further facilitates cleaning.

A layer of sand is indicated at 45 between bottom and the undisturbed ground 33. The sand layer need not be specially sifted and prepared as in former constructions because bottom 35 is itself rigid in nature. Referring to FIGURE 4 for example it will be noted that bottom 35 is a laminated structure consisting of an inner pool water contacting layer 46 of flexible material, a layer 47 of substantially rigid material and an outer layer 48, also of flexible material. The rigid material 47 may be cardboard or any inexpensive plastic material such as polystyrene. In a preferred form polyvinylchloride in hard sheet form and of about ten gauge thickness is employed. It will be understood that the term hard and rigid is used in the sense of resistance to impressions made from impacts such as would be encountered in the normal use of a pool. Thus, a swimmer whose feet strike against the bottom of the pool will not form a depression in the bottom 35 as they would in a flexible bottom. As is well known in the art the 'various above mentioned materials, in particularly polyvinyl chloride, may be purchased from a number of sources in a range of gauges and flexibilities.

An alternative construction is illustrated in FIGURE 5. In this instance a wood cap such as a 2 x 8 redwood plank has been placed on top of retainer wall 36 and aligned with its inner edge. A special bracket is indicated as 51, said bracket being secured to the wood cap 50 any suitable fastener such as nail 52. A concrete coping is indicated as 53. Bracket 51 includes a flange 54 by which the bracket may be secured to the underlying structure, and a housing or channel section 55. The inward side of the housing 55 has an opening '56 of a width substantially narrower than the width of the head portion 57 at the upper edge of flexible liner 58. The inner edge of the bead 57 has an abutment surface 59 so that the bead, once in place within the chamber 60, cannot be removed because the shoulder 59 abuts against the inside wall of lip 61. Bead 57 is composed of a deformable material which can be physically deformed to pass through the opening 56 during installation.

FIGURE 6 illustrates another embodiment in which the pool bottom is formed by a single rigid sheet 63. The P sheet is sealed about its outer peripheral edges to a flexible liner 64 which forms a flexible hinge. The upper end of flexible liner 64 is sealed to a rigid panel 65 which may be bonded or otherwise secured to the upper edge of the retainer wall by any suitable means. The rigid panel 65 extends from a point just below to a point substantially above the water level, and serves to eliminate or reduce liner damage in the water level area. The liner further serves as a feature strip within which windows, lights or other sanitation or aesthetic equipment may be mounted.

The use, function and operation of the invention is as follows:

To construct a swimming pool in accordance with this invention a hole is excavated in the usual manner and the retainer wall 36 is laid up. It is preferred that the bottom consist of a layer of sand 45 on top of the undisturbed earth 33 but it is not essential that the layer 45 be carefully sifted sand as it is in the conventional construction. After preparation of the bottom and retainer wall the flexible pool of this invention is laid in place and filling water admitted.

Each of the bottom sections 18-22 is substantially rigid in nature and is joined by a flexible hinge to its adjacent sections. Thus, each of the bottom sections may be a laminated structure as illustrated in detail in FIGURE 4 or a single thickness structure as shown in FIGURE 6. Alternately, a double thickness construction may be employed, this construction using a thin flexible sheet disposed either above or beneath a rigid sheet. In any event the rigid sheet is sealed about its periphery to the flexible sheet. If the plastic materials may be susceptible to heat sealing, such a seal may be quite adequate. Otherwise the sheets may be cemented one to the other.

At the junction between adjacent pool sections, such as between adjacent bottom sections or between a bottom section and a side wall section, a thin flexible hinge indicated best at 66 is employed. The hinge may be a continuation of the flexible sheet which forms either the side or bottom section, or both, or it may be a separate piece, as when the adjoining side and bottom sections are made of a single rigid laminate sheet. In any event the joints are always of a flexible material to facilitate shipment and installation.

The side walls may consist of a single layer of flexible material, as indicated in FIGURES 3 and 5 or, if desired, a laminate structure as illustrated in FIGURE 4 may be employed. If a solid retainer wall of the type illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 5 is employed the single flexible sheet may be quite snfiicient, especially if a layer of building paper 43 is interposed between the rough surface of the retainer wall and the exterior surface of the flexible sheet.

Any suitable means may be used for securing and tightly holding the flexible liner in place prior to filling, as illustrated by the semi-permanent installation of FIG- URE 3 or the serni-permanent, mechanical interlock arrangement of FIGURE 5.

Although several embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described it will at once be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of the invention is limited not by the foregoing exemplary description but solely by the hereafter amended claims when interpreted in light of the pertinent prior art.

I claim:

1. In a liner type pool,

generrlly vertically upwardly extending side wall means,

bottom means,

said bottom means including a plurality of bottom sections,

each bottom section including a rigid, generally sheetlike member,

first flexible hinge means between adjacent bottom sectrons,

said first flexible hinge means including a layer of moisture resistant, flexible sheet-like material which forms a barrier to water passage between adjacent bottom sections, second flexible hinge means between each bottom section and its associated adjoining side wall means,

said second flexible hinge means including a layer of moisture resistant, flexible sheet-like material which forms a barrier to water passage between the side wall means and the bottom means.

2. The liner type pool of claim 1 further characterized in that the flexible sheet-like material of the first and second hinge means is continuously sealed to the rigid sheet-like material in the peripheral area of the rigid sheetlike material.

3. The liner type pool of claim 2 further characterized in that the rigid sheet-like material underlies the flexible sheet-like material.

4. The liner type pool of claim 2 further characterized in that the flexible sheet-like material overlies the entire area of the rigid sheet-like material.

5. The liner type pool of claim 4 further characterized by and including an auxiliary layer of thin, flexible sheet-like material which underlies the rigid sheet-like member.

6. The liner type pool of claim 5 further characterized in that the rigid sheet-like material is bonded over at least one of its surfaces to the abutting flexible sheet-like material.

7. The liner type pool of claim 1 further characterized by and including a layer of non-sifted earth beneath the generally rigid bottom sections.

8. The liner type pool of claim 1 further characterized in that the generally vertically upwardly extending side wall means includes a rigid restraining structure,

generally upwardly extending flexible sheet means disposed peripherally within the restraining structure, and

a sheet of depression smoothing material disposed between at least a portion of the area of the restraining structure which is co-extensive with the generally upwardly extending flexible sheet means.

9. The liner type pool of claim 1 further characterized in that the generally vertically upwardly extending side wall means includes a rigid restraining structure,

generally upwardly extending flexible sheet means disposed peripherally within the restraining structure,

said upwardly extending flexible sheet means terminating below the upper edge of the restraining structure, and

an upwardly extending substantially rigid sheet-like member,

said upwardly extending sheet-like member being sealed along its lower edge portion to the upwardly extending flexible sheet means, and terminating at its upper end portion adjacent the upper edge of the restrainstructure.

10. The liner type pool of claim 1 further characterized in that the side wall means includes a generally upwardly extending flexible sheet means which terminates, at its upper edge, in a sealing rib,

said sealing rib being received in a ground supported receptacle located at the upper end of the side wall means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,914,776 12/ 1959 Hotz 4-172 3,177,501 4/ 1965 Kwake 4-172 3,354,473 11/1967 Schwartz et al. 4-172 3,371,455 3/1968 Fox 4--172 LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

H. K. ARTIS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A LINER TYPE POOL, GENERALLY VERTICALLY UPWARDLY EXTNDING SIDE WALL MEANS, AND BOTTOM MEANS, SAID BOTTOM MEANS INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF BOTTOM SECTIONS, EACH BOTTOM SECTION INCLUDING A RIGID, GENERALLY SHEETLIKE MEMBER, FIRST FLEXIBLE HINGE MEANS BETWEEN ADJACENT BOTTOM SECTIONS, SAID FIRST FLEXIBLE HINGE MEANS INCLUDING A LAYER OF MOISTURE RESISTANT, FLEXIBLE SHEET-LIKE MATERIAL WHICH FORMS A BARRIER TO WATER PASSAGE BETWEEN ADJACENT BOTTOM SECTIONS, SECOND FLEXIBLE HINGE MEANS BETWEEN EACH BOTTOM SECTION AND ITS ASSOCIATED ADJOINING SIDE WALL MEANS, SAID SECOND FLEXIBLE HINGE MEANS INCLUDING A LAYER OF MOISTURE RESISTANT, FLEXIBLE SHEET-LIKE MATERIAL WHICH FORMS A BARRIER TO WATER PASSAGE BETWEEN THE SIDE WALL MEANS AND THE BOTTOM MEANS. 